Half to edward powell



(No Model.) A 2 sheets-shet 1 J. G. POWELL.4 l NEEDLE EIGKING MEGHANISM EOE AUTOMATIC KNITTING MACHINES.

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NEEDLE PIGKING MEGHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC KNITTING'MAGHINES.

Patented Deo. 19, 1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

i JOHN G. POWELL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO EDWARD POWELL, OF SAME PLACE.

NEYEDLE-PiCKING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATlC KNITTING-MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 510,935, dated December 19, 1893.

Application iiled March 25, 1893. Serial No. 4671522 (N0 model-l Y To al?, whom it may oon-cern:

Be it known th at'LJonN G. PoWnLL,act i zen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvementsin Needle-Picking Mechanism for Automatic Knitting-Machines, of'lwhi'ch the following is aspecification.

My invention consists of certain -improvements in mechanism for operating the needle picking arms or fingers of an antolnaticknitting machine, such as shown and described in Letters Patent No. 440,389, dated November 11, 1890the object of my present invention being to so construct such mechanism as to .permit of the use of said needle picking arms in machines .of finer gage than was possible with the devices originally employed. This object I attain in the manner hereinafter set forth,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l, is a longitudinal section of suicient of the machine to illustrate my present invention. Figs. 2, 3, 4; and 5, are transverse Sections, mainly in elevation,illustrating the operation of the parts constituting the subject of my invention. Fig. 6, is an enlarged view of part of the device; and Fig. 7, is a view illustrating a modification.

In Fig. l, A represents part of the xed frame or bed of the machine having suitable slots for the guidance of the needles, each of the latter being provided with a projecting bit orI tongue d for the action of a picking arm B or D, both of these arms being pivoted at their lower ends by means of a pin b to a sliding carrier F, two of these carriers being employed in each machine, the arms B and D for acting upon the needles at one end of the Vfashioning set being mounted upon one carrier, and the arms for acting upon the needles at the opposite end of the set being mounted upon the other carrier.

Each of the carriers F is mounted upon a feed screw G secured to a shaft H, the thread of one screw G being right-handed and that ot the other left-handed, so that when the shaft H is turned in one direction the carriers F will be caused to move toward each other, and when said shaft is turned in the opposite direction, said carriers will be caused to move apart from each other.

Each of the feed screws G is engaged by a nut con its respective carrier F, and is grooved for the reception of the spline d which overlaps the hub of the carrier so that it is compelled to travel longitudinally with said car-* rier, while, at the same time, it is caused to rotatewith the feed screw, and each spline CZ Vhas a projecting toef which, in the patented machine, was adapted to act directly upon the arms B and D so that as the shaft H and its feed screws were rotated the picking arms B and D of each carrier were vibrated alternately, while at the same time they were moved along longitudinally with the carriers. outward swing of the arm B due to the action of the toe f caused movement of the needle in one direction when the upper end of said arm was in line with the bit a ot' the needle at the 'other the arms B only should be operative so as to throw out of action needle after needle successively at opposite ends of the fashioning set, and when the direction of movement of the shaft is reversed and the carriers F are moved from'each other the arms D only should be operative so as to bring needle after needle of the fashonin g set into operation again, in reverse order as compared with that in which they were put out of action. As both of the arms B and D, however,`were in the former machine operated on each rotation ot` the feed screw, it was necessary to so construct and arrange the parts that during the inward movement of the carriers F the upper ends of the picking arms D vibrated in the spaces between the needles, the arms B likewise operating on' the outward movement of the carriers. Consequently the gage of the machine was coarse, owing to the necessity of spacing the needles so widely as to provide for the free play of the inoperative picking arm between the bits a. ln order to overcome The this objection I now provide each picking arm with a lug for the action of the teef, which lug is rigid as against pressue in one direction, but yields against pressure in the opposite direction, thus, as shown in Figs. 2 to 5 of the drawings, each arm is provided with a lug g pivoted to the arm at its outer end and normally shown in Fig. 3, while, when the feed screw is turned in the opposite direction, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5,the arm D only will be operated, the lug of said arm being rigid against movement yin this direction, as shown in Fig. 4, and the lug of the arm B being free to yield, as shown in Fig. 5. 'By' reason of this method of operating thearms the needles may be located as cl'oselytogether as desired, since'there is no :play .of either picking 'arm between the bits ct. i Aftereach movement of either. arm due-.tothe actionol:` the toe f the armv is restored toits normal position by means-of a spring :mand said spring also serves vtofhold thelug g of vthe arm in normal position`,.by reason of the facttha't the lower end of l the spring is connected to a pint' projectingfrom thegpivot pin 'm of the lug, as shown in Fig. 6. Various modifications in the `mode of constructing `and supporting' thelug'may, however, `be -adopted within the scope ofmy invention. For instance, a slidinglug'g under the' influence of a spring n, as shown .in`Fig.

7, may be used in place of the pivoted'lug, although the latter is preferred.

One face of the lug g should be so beveled that said lug will yield under ,the action of the toe f more easily than the arm B or D, but the other face is such that it will not yield more readily than the arm under such action. Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secu re by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of the carrier and its pivoted needle picking fingers, with the feed screw, the picking toe rotating therewith and traveling with the carrier, and lugs on the -needle ypicking arms, the lug of each arm being rigid asagainst pressure in one direction, and yielding as against pressure in the opposite direction, and the lug of one arm yielding when thetoe ismovingin one direction','and that? of theother armyieldin'g'whenthe toe is moving in *theopposite direction, substan tially as specified. v

2. The combination of 1thefcarrier,-its-,piv

oted arms, 'the'feed' screw,` the pickin'ggtoe rospecified.

Intestimony whereof {If'have fsigned f. my

`name t'o'thisA specification. iny the "presenceof twosubscribingiwitnesses.

-Witnesses:

FRANK E. BEoHToLD, JOSEPH H. KLEIN. 

